


L'appel du Vide

by corruptedkid



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Podfic Welcome, Space Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corruptedkid/pseuds/corruptedkid
Summary: When Gerard talked about finding the edge of the universe, Frank thought he was crazy. And he wasn't wrong.But deep down, he knew he'd follow those bright eyes wherever they chose to lead him.





	L'appel du Vide

**Author's Note:**

> i find the lack of fic in the space au tag appalling. jeez. i have to do everything myself huh
> 
> this fic is a collection of stray ideas that didn't fit into my plan for a larger space au. it was fun to write, i hope you enjoy!

_l'appel du vide (n.): from french; "the call of the void"_

Frank was sitting with his back against the wall of the cell, glaring at anyone who dared to give him a second glance. The empty holster at his belt was burning a hole into his side. They’d taken his gun, his remote detonator, and both the knives he kept strapped to his legs. It was a painfully vulnerable situation to be in, but he still had his fists - they’d be enough, if shit went south.

Or if the guy across from him kept looking at him like that.

All the prisoners were crowded together into a communal cell, sweating and cursing and screaming. The Helios quadrant wasn’t known for its security, but Jesus, whoever had put an Evrilon in the same room as a Nekiri deserved to be fired as soon as possible. The Patrollers had already come by twice to break up fights. Frank kept his posture loose, trying to look big enough that no one would start shit with him, but not big enough to be a target. 

The guy across from him snickered again. 

“Stop fucking laughing at me,” Frank said, scowling.

“Stop giving me that look, then,” the guy said. He was sitting with his knees up, elbows rested casually on them. “How was I supposed to know you were a pirate? I thought you were part of the crew.”

Frank snorted. “Right. ‘Cause this,” he gestured to his jacket, all leather and scorch marks, “Just reeks of authority.”

“You were trying to shoot me after finding me with stolen cargo. Forgive me for not taking your outfit into account when I made an assumption.” 

Frank had been trying to avoid fighting with any of his cellmates, but in that moment, he kind of wanted to punch this stranger. Hard enough to bruise, to make red and purple rise up around those hazel eyes.

“Whatever,” he muttered. “You should’ve just given me the fucking parts. We both could’ve gotten out if you had.”

“I needed them,” said the stranger.

“So did I,” Frank retorted. The money he’d have gotten for them would’ve kept him flying free for another two cycles, at the very least.

“You were late to the party, sugar,” the guy said, smirking up at Frank from under his crimson bangs. “Finders keepers.”

“Fuck that,” Frank spat. “They were mine.”

It was true. He was _so_ careful - he’d been planning that raid for cycles, for fuck’s sake. But when he’d snuck into the cargo hold, expecting to find a load of Class A engine bearings, it’d been almost completely barren. Someone else had beaten him to the prize.

He’d ran out of there as fast as he could, only to smack right into a man with hair bright enough to make his eyes hurt, a twin set of guns, and pockets full of parts Frank totally had dibs on. The man had stared at Frank for a split second; just long enough for Frank to knock one of his guns away and press the barrel of his own to the guy’s forehead.

“Hand ‘em over,” he’d said. He’d assumed the guy would falter when held at gunpoint.

Instead, he got himself shot in the leg.

His hopes of getting in and out of the ship as fast as possible were effectively shattered. He wasn’t sure where things went wrong - between the shouting, the shooting, and the pain in his leg, it was all a blur. But the guy hadn’t known about the bombs Frank had planted. That much was obvious.

A misplaced explosion, and the alarms went off, effectively trapping both Frank and his rival in a merchant ship they definitely didn’t have clearance to be on.

The Patrollers hadn’t been happy.

“Look,” the guy said patiently. “I was ready to jet after I heard the alarms, and you were hurt. We could’ve let it end right there. But you wanted to argue, so here we are.” He spread his hands to the dingy cells around them. In the corner, one of the heftier captives was making threatening gestures at a tiny Rhaen. Frank ignored them.

“Don’t pin this shit on me,” he said. “I wouldn’t be stuck here if it weren’t for you.”

“Yes, yes, and they were sworn enemies for life, I get it,” the guy said, waving a hand. “We can share the blame, okay? We’ve got bigger things to worry about now.”

“Yeah, like how we’re in fucking _jail_ ,” Frank snapped. “You expect me to just let that go? You’d better have a fucking awesome plan for getting us both out of here, or I’m gonna get my gun back and show you how it works.”

“Actually, I do!” the guy said brightly. “Well, for getting me out, at least. Not so sure about you. I usually don’t give rides to assholes who threaten to shoot me.”

Frank blinked.

“You what?” he asked.

There came a roar from the other side of the room, and a sound like a soda can being crushed. Frank glanced toward the source of the noise. One of the bigger guys - probably a Guro, though Frank’d be damned if he could tell which ethnicity - was slamming the little Rhaen into the wall. Bad idea. The Rhaen were tricky little bastards. Small, yes, but agile, and poisonous to boot. Frank had gotten stung by one once; he’d been delirious for days after. 

Judging by the howl that the Guro let out, Frank guessed it had just met the same fate.

“So fucking stupid,” the redhead muttered. Frank had to agree.

There was a loud beeping sound, and the thump of boots on concrete. Frank sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. The Patroller barked out something in a language he didn’t understand, and there was a sharp zap as one of them got tased - probably the Guro. 

The Patroller’s footsteps thumped off again, and Frank’s head snapped back up. He’d almost forgotten.

“Wait, did you say you’ve got a plan to get out of here?” he asked.

The stranger nodded. “My crewmate was able to get away with the ship when I got captured. He should be here soon to bust me out. Shouldn’t be too hard - I mean, we’re in Helios.”

Frank wasn’t typically one to retract insults, but he suddenly wondered how much ass-kissing it would take to get back in this guy’s good books.

He bit his lip. “Could you -”

“You’d owe me,” the guy said. “Big time.”

Frank nodded vigorously. “Big time.”

There was a moment of silence as the guy looked him over. Frank’s heart was in his throat. He’d been in the business of thievery for cycles, but the Patrollers had never managed to catch him. Not until now. If they kept him here much longer, they’d be able to put him on a real trial, which would undoubtedly lead to imprisonment, if not a one-way trip to the slave colonies. He couldn’t afford that.

“I can drop you off at the closest planet,” the guy finally said. “After that, all bets are off. I’ve got a crew of two, I don’t need three. And I don’t take stowaways. But…” He hesitated. “Neither of us wanted to get into this mess. I can’t exactly hold it against you, considering you’re stuck here too.”

Frank nodded cautiously, waiting for the catch.

“But you do owe me, and I can cash in on that debt whenever I need to. My terms, not yours. You get back on your own ship, you don’t follow me, and you sure as hell don’t threaten me. Got it?” The guy raised an eyebrow.

“Got it,” Frank said with a nod.

The guy got up and crossed to Frank’s side of the cell, taking a seat next to him. He stuck out his hand. “Gerard,” he said.

Frank gave his hand a quick shake. “Frank.”

Gerard nodded. “Well, I can’t say been a pleasure meeting you, Frank, but it’ll sure be a pleasure to get the hell out of here.”

Frank grinned in spite of himself.

They sat together for a long time, letting the barely-contained pandemonium of the prison wash over them. The inmates kept squabbling. The Patrollers kept stomping by. Gerard closed his eyes and leaned back, his breathing steady despite the tension that was heavy in the air. 

Frank watched him with a curious eye.

He didn’t quite trust Gerard; it would be stupid to do so. No pirate would bail someone out of jail without an ulterior motive. But something about Gerard felt different. He didn’t carry himself with the typical hostility of a scavenger, and even when he was teasing Frank, it had seemed lighthearted more than anything else. If Frank didn’t know better, he’d say Gerard was just a normal guy.

But normal guys didn’t get thrown in jail for theft.

There were secrets behind that pretty face; Frank was sure of it.

Roughly twenty beats later, Gerard suddenly sat up. Frank looked away as quickly as he could, pretending to be watching a nearby Tysh, but Gerard wasn’t paying any attention to him. He was looking out into the hallway, his muscles tensed. 

“Get ready,” he said to Frank.

Frank had barely opened his mouth to ask what Gerard meant when half the hallway exploded. Frank nearly jumped out of his skin, and half the prisoners shrieked. Gerard just smiled. 

The hall was filled with a thick cloud of dust. “Gee?” a voice yelled. “You there?”

“Over here,” Gerard called. He got up and went to the bars, sticking his hand through. A figure emerged from the dust and grabbed onto it. They exchanged a few muttered words, and Gerard stepped back. The beam of a laser shone bright as it sliced through the bars. They hit the ground with a clang.

“We’re picking up an extra,” Gerard said as he stepped through the opening. “We can leave him at Titus Three. ‘S that cool?”

“Whatever,” said the figure. “As long as he doesn’t drink the coffee.”

“Frank, this is Mikey,” Gerard said. “He’s my brother. Don’t fuck with him.” 

“Patrollers on the way,” said Mikey, glancing at a small device he held in his palm. As the dust cleared, Frank could make out a pair of glasses and a rumpled coat - stolen from a trader, if he placed the style correctly. “Let’s not stick around, hm?” 

Frank shook himself and jumped up, following them out. 

Most of the hallway had been blown wide open. Idling just outside was a ship; bigger than Frank’s, with smoother curves and a darker finish. A strip beside the hatch door read _S.S. Death Wish_. Mikey yanked the door open and hopped inside. Gerard climbed up after him.

Frank was the last one in. He kept an eye on the door, poised to spring into action if something went wrong. But Mikey was at the helm in a split second, revving the engine and letting them soar away into the night.

As Frank watched the prison station shrink into the distance, his heart rate slowed, and he sank into a blissful state of relief. Fate had been the one to save his ass more than once in the past, but this was a stroke of luck like he’d never seen before. He could only hope Gerard wasn’t going to kidnap him or rob him or something now that they were free.

“So, Titus Three?” Mikey asked. 

Gerard nodded. He’d flopped down into a seat beside Mikey’s. “They’ve got decent ships there. Frank’s gonna need a new one.”

Frank sighed. He hadn’t wanted to think about that. The Patrollers had taken the _Indifference_ ; there would be no getting her back now. She’d been a good ship. Frank could find a better one, though. Hopefully. 

“Thanks for the lift,” he said. “Do you need me to pay you back or anything? I mean, assuming you’re not gonna kidnap me or some shit.”

“Already told you,” Gerard said, grinning lazily. “Two-person crew. No stowaways. You owe me, but I haven’t decided exactly what you owe. That’s for you to find out.”

Frank let himself relax. It was a damn good thing he’d chosen the only semi-decent pirate in the universe to pick a fight with. 

That kind of genuine goodness often got people killed. When Gerard dropped him off on the surface of Titus Three, Frank waved goodbye, half-smiling as the _Death Wish_ shrunk into a speck in the distance. It was rare for him to sincerely wish someone well, but he hoped Gerard would make it okay.

Paying off his debt would probably suck, but even then, Frank might not mind seeing him again.

***

Frank hated dealing with the Lai. They were finicky, flighty, and overall annoying as fuck - but they had good shit up for trade, and that was what he needed. A particularly eventful raid had left the _Infection_ ’s left engine all torn up. He could fly without it, but it was slow going, and he didn’t do slow. A replacement would let him breathe easier. 

The trip to Lai’na took a while, but he made it in the end.

The planet’s central market was as crowded as he remembered it being. He didn’t go there often, but when he did, it was always abuzz with merchants and pirates and races of all kinds. The trader he’d been in contact with met him at the entrance to a brightly-colored tent. Inside, he could see shelves upon shelves of shiny-new ray guns and spaceship parts. The sight made his mouth water.

The trader herself was a little shit, of course. It took ages for her to even let him in, first going through the painfully complex greeting process, which involved far too much bowing for Frank’s comfort. He kept his eyes on the inside of the tent. Glancing around, he could see each individual component an engine would need, mentally piecing them together and sticking them onto the _Infection_. This would be worth it. He just had to be patient.

“Welcome!” the trader finally chirped, the little blue frills around her face waving amicably, and Frank heaved a sigh of relief.

Just as he was stepping inside, something down the street exploded.

The Lai trader shrieked and darted inside. Frank backed away, craning his neck to see what had happened. A tent down the road had gone up in flames. There came the telltale _pew-pew_ of ray gun fire, and Frank’s breath caught in his throat. 

Patrollers.

In pirate terms: time to go.

Frank made a frustrated noise, eyeing the tent once more, but cast his thoughts of the parts inside away as quickly as he could. The _Infection_ could still fly; he could fix up her engine somewhere else. For now, he needed an escape.

He wasn’t the only one thinking so. The streets were beginning to flood with people, all heading toward their ships, then to the skies. Frank ducked into their midst. It was times like these he was glad to be small. While a Guro or a Rhaxis would get stuck in the crowd, he was able to weave through with ease.

The gunfire got louder as he kept going. More tents were bursting into flame, their owners crying out in distress from within. Frank tuned it all out. He could almost make out the spot he’d left the _Infection_.

“Fucking _move_!” somebody shouted, and Frank barely had time to jump out of the way. A blur of red hurtled past him. Several jets of light shot after it in a hail of gunfire. Frank swore under his breath and pressed himself into the crowd, keeping his head down as a group of Patrollers ran by. Wherever they went, the crowd parted. 

Frank saw an opportunity and jumped on it. 

With the Patrollers ahead of him, his path to the _Infection_ was clear. He could still see that poor motherfucker sprinting through the crowd. Whoever they were, they knew how to gun it. Frank had to stifle a grin as he watched.

They had almost reached their escape. There was a ship sitting just ahead; a beacon of salvation in the chaos. The pirate rushed for it, and -

Mother _fucker_.

That wasn’t any old ship, that was _Frank’s_ ship.

“Oh, hell no,” he said out loud. A wave of furious heat rose up in his veins, and before he knew it, he had his gun drawn. He clicked the safety off, and with two shots to the back of the head, the Patrollers dropped to the ground. He mentally added a couple murder charges to his list of wrongdoings.

Then he pushed his way through the crowd and ran. This guy was _his_.

The pirate still hadn’t managed to get inside the _Infection_. He was trying to shoot out one of the windows, but panic made his aim sloppy, and the shot ricocheted off the side. He didn’t seem to notice Frank approaching. 

Frank took a step forward and nudged the barrel of his gun into the pirate’s hair.

“This ship’s taken,” he said. “Go find your own.”

The pirate slowly turned around, and Frank’s eyebrows shot up.

“Gerard?” he asked, the name falling from his lips before he could stop himself.

“Frank?” Gerard asked, wide-eyed. He was still breathing heavily, and his pupils were dilated, threatening to swallow the hazel around them. He lowered his gun, not breaking eye contact for a second.

He looked almost exactly as Frank remembered him. Cherry-red hair, with dark roots just starting to grow in; a loose-fitting jacket and a gun in each hand. Frank could still see him standing in the door of the _Death Wish_ when they’d parted ways, giving a two-finger salute before the ship pulled away into the sky. 

“Did you just shoot a Patroller?” Gerard asked, and Frank was pulled back into the present.

“Two, actually,” he said. “I guess that makes us even.”

“I guess it does,” said Gerard. He was slightly cross-eyed, focusing on the ray gun pointed at his face. “Sorry for, uh… I didn’t know this was yours.” 

Frank grinned, shoving his gun back into its holster. As he did so, Gerard visibly relaxed, and the tension between them evaporated. “It’s a damn good thing I know you. If I didn’t, you’d be dead by now. What’re they after you for this time?”

“I hijacked a Patrol ship a while back and gutted it for parts.” Gerard scratched at the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I thought I’d have lost ‘em by now.”

“Jeez, what is it with you and ships?” Frank dug into his pocket for his keys, opening up the hatch to the _Infection_. Once it had dropped down, he cleared his throat, glancing up at Gerard. “So, do you need a ride somewhere, or?”

Gerard blinked. He looked at the door, as if he’d forgotten it was there, then back at Frank. “I’ll be okay,” he said. “Mikey took the ship down to a different port, but he should be back soon. I can message him. Thanks, though.”

“Okay. Cool.” There was a bit of an awkward silence. Frank rested his hand on the hatch door. “So, I don’t owe you anything anymore, huh?”

“You - oh, yeah. We’re even, no worries.” Gerard smiled briefly. “You off to cause more trouble?”

“Of course.”

“Good luck with it, then.”

“And to you,” said Frank, inclining his head.

Gerard laughed. “Yeah, I’ll need it.”

He touched Frank’s shoulder before he walked away, pulling out a communicator and typing a message to his crew. Frank watched him until he disappeared into the market, half of which was still on fire. He had to laugh. Wherever Gerard went, chaos seemed to follow. 

As Frank fired up his ship, part of him wondered where Gerard would be going next.

***

Curiosity was a powerful thing. There were millions of distractions in the universe, but somehow, Frank didn’t stop wondering.

***

“I feel like at least one of us should have the other at gunpoint right now,” said a familiar voice.

Frank glanced up from his drink, and a smile spread over his face before he could stop it. Gerard was grinning down at him, glass in hand. He slid onto the barstool next to Frank without asking. “Am I right? I mean, that’s usually how it works.”

“What are you doing here?” Frank asked, taking in the sight of him. Gerard was right; it was a little odd to see him without Patrollers hunting them down. Not that he was complaining. Gerard was glowing under the amber light of the bar; his jeans clinging to his hips as he rested an elbow on the counter. 

“I’m taking the night off,” Gerard said, taking a sip of his drink. “Flying’s nice, but sometimes you just wanna go planetside, y’know?” 

“What, couldn’t find any parts to steal?” Frank nudged Gerard’s elbow with his. “You never did tell me about your thing for ships.” The buzz of alcohol in his system made him less subtle than he’d like to be, but he wanted answers. He’d wanted them ever since Gerard disappeared into the maze of tents on Lai’na. 

“It’s not really a _thing_ ,” Gerard hedged. “It’s more like…” He paused. “Okay, it is a thing, but it’s a little complicated. And I’m not stealing parts anymore. I’m mostly after fuel these days.”

Frank quirked an eyebrow. “You gonna elaborate?”

“It’s a long story,” Gerard said, giving him a sideways glance. The corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk. “You sure you’re up for it, sugar?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Frank. 

Gerard knocked back the rest of his drink and set the glass on the counter. “What if I told you I was gonna find the edge of the universe?” he asked, looking Frank in the eyes. 

“I’d call you batshit crazy,” Frank snorted. 

“Is that such a bad thing?”

Frank opened his mouth to say something, but lost track of the thought almost instantly. Gerard’s gaze was intense, the bar lights casting shadows over his face. “You’re serious,” Frank said.

“Dead serious,” Gerard said, grinning. “I mean, I don’t expect it to be easy. But one can try, hm?”

“But that’s impossible,” Frank blurted. “We can’t even prove there _is_ an edge; it expands too fast.”

Gerard shrugged. “There’s an edge of civilization. I’ll find that first, then keep going.”

“But…” Frank was at a loss for words. Gerard was out of his mind, that much was for sure, but Frank couldn’t help his fascination. “What’ll you do when you’re past it? You’ll be alone out there. You won’t have supplies or anything.”

“Hence the need for fuel.” 

“You’re crazy,” Frank repeated.

Gerard’s grin had only broadened. “All the great ones are.”

“Is that what you want?” Frank said curiously. “To be great? No offense, but that’s gonna be a little hard if you die way out there where no one can find you.”

Gerard laughed. “Oh, Frankie. It’s not about the greatness.” He smiled up at Frank from under his bangs, and Frank was beginning to suspect he knew exactly how good he looked when he did that. “It’s about the experience.”

“Dying alone in a vacuum,” Frank said dryly. “You’re right, sounds like a great experience.”

“I prefer a more optimistic outlook.” Gerard took Frank’s drink out of his hand and set it down. “I can explain it in more detail, if you’d like.” 

Sometime during the conversation, he’d gotten a lot closer. Frank could suddenly make out the subtle black lining his eyes; the curl of his eyelashes. He found that he didn’t mind at all. 

“I don’t think you’ll be able to change my mind,” he managed.

“I don’t think that’s the point,” Gerard replied, and his fingertips came to rest on Frank’s wrist. Frank shivered. He could feel Gerard’s breath on his neck. “You gonna let me give it a try?”

“Gladly,” Frank whispered.

It came as no surprise when Gerard kissed him.

And when they were tumbling into a motel room, hands tugging at each other’s clothes and roving over every inch of exposed skin, well, that wasn’t such a surprise either. 

When Gerard was fucking him into the mattress and pulling moans from deep in his throat, Frank thanked his lucky stars that the human race was still seedy enough to build motels on whatever planets it colonized. 

He was still panting when Gerard rolled onto his side to look at him, asking, “You really think I’m crazy?”

Frank pushed himself up onto his elbows. “I mean, yeah. Adventures are all well and good, but not when they’re suicide missions.”

“It might not be,” Gerard reminded him.

Frank raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Space is always trying to kill you. You’ve got a crew of two people, you’re going out where no one can help you, and you think it’ll end well? Nuh-uh.”

Gerard hummed. Frank expected him to argue, but instead, he just lay back down, wrapping an arm around Frank’s waist and burying his face in his neck. 

Frank’s heart was still beating fast.

This definitely wasn’t going to end well.

***

Frank had thought it would be a one-time thing. 

It wasn’t.

He couldn’t get enough of Gerard’s skin against his, his mouth, his ragged breathing. It was a addicting. Frank would always leave the morning after, but he couldn’t stay away for long. Sometimes he caught Gerard looking at him on his way out, and he thought, for one brief moment, that Gerard might ask him to stay.

He never did.

They were headed for a crash, Frank knew, but kept his foot on the gas the whole time. All he could do was wait for the blackout; the day Gerard would set off on his grand voyage and disappear from Frank’s life.

He never did.

***

Frank didn’t think he’d ever seen a sea calmer than this one. Every star in the night sky was reflected in the surface of the water. The waves lapped gently against the shore, bioluminescent plants giving off a soft blue glow from within them. They looked like an extra set of stars; a miniature nebula that reached out to touch the sand.

“I don’t get why you’d want to leave stuff like this behind,” he said.

It took Gerard a while to respond. His fingers were laced with Frank’s, tracing soft patterns over Frank’s thumb. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Frank stared out over the vast expanse of the sea. “It’s just… the worlds we know are all so fuckin’ beautiful, y’know? They’re amazing.” He looked at Gerard. “Do you really think you’re gonna find anything better than this?”

“The point isn’t to find something better,” Gerard said. “It’s just to find. Not planets, it was never about planets. I want to…” He hesitated, visibly searching for the right words. “I want to see what’s out there. I want to find the limit, the line that defines what we can and can’t do, and cross it. There’s stuff out there that we can’t even fathom. Stuff that defines life and death and existence. That’s what I wanna see.”

It was times like these that Frank thought Gerard might not be crazy after all. 

He just wasn’t meant to live a mortal’s life. Gerard was built to travel the universe; to discover the great secrets of the universe that no other human could comprehend, to chase the stardust that ran through his very blood. Frank could see it whenever Gerard spoke, in that bright, almost manic light that shone from behind his eyes, driving him ever forward.

Frank hated to think of the day the universe would claim him and return him to the stars he was made of.

Gerard’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Frank?”

“Yeah,” Frank said automatically. “I guess that makes sense.”

“It does?” Gerard sounded surprised.

“I guess. I can see why you’d want it, I just can’t see why you’d risk your life for it. I can’t get behind that.” 

Gerard kept running his thumb over Frank’s.

“I know,” he said, seemingly to himself. “I know you can’t.”

***

Frank was so fucked. 

He could always run away, he thought. Leave it all behind him. Running was his entire way of life; it wouldn’t be hard. Cut and go, hurt himself before anyone could hurt him. It would be better that way.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

***

When the _Infection_ crashed, Frank watched everything he’d built for himself burn away in a blaze of orange and red.

For a while, he could only stare into the flames, feeling the heat wash over his skin. The hull had collapsed in on itself. He could only imagine what the inside looked like.

He tried his best not to.

It had only been a matter of time, really. The Patrollers weren’t the smartest, but they weren’t brain dead. They could track you down. And when they did, you would always lose something, be it your crew, your cargo, or something even more precious. 

Frank could get a new ship; he knew that. He’d done it before. But watching the _Infection_ burn felt like a funeral.

When a hand touched the small of his back, he jumped. 

Gerard was standing just beside him, a silent apology written all over his face. Frank barely even remembered messaging him. He could do nothing but nod dazedly and allow Gerard to wrap an arm around his shoulder, guiding him away from the wreckage.

Mikey didn’t say anything when Frank showed up on the _Death Wish_. It was a welcoming sort of silence, though. Frank was grateful, even if he couldn’t express it yet.

At first, all he could do was sleep, and pray that his dreams would show him a better future.

When he woke up, Gerard was waiting for him.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said.

Frank closed his eyes again, exhaling slowly. He could still see the afterimage of the ship burning behind his eyelids. It felt like a knife to his chest. Soon, he’d have to get up and find a new ship, replace everything that had been inside the _Infection_ , and somehow get the credits to pay for it all. He’d have to start from scratch. 

He wasn’t looking forward to it.

“So, I…” Frank opened his eyes to see Gerard biting his lip, looking at the floor. “I think it’s obvious that you can stay here as long as you want,” he said. “We’ve got room.”

Frank nodded and sat up. “Thanks. I might need an escape vehicle for a few raids, too. I don’t know how the fuck I’m gonna cover a new ship.” He cringed at the very thought. He had some contacts who could lend him the credits, but paying them back would be a bitch, and he’d hate for the few people who had trust in him to lose it.

“No, that’s what I’m…” Gerard cut himself off, frowning down at the floor. He tugged at one of his fingerless gloves. “That’s what I’m saying. You can stay here as long as you want.”

Frank tilted his head slightly.

“I mean, if you want to,” Gerard said. He cleared his throat. “But, um, yeah. You wouldn’t have to get a new ship. If you didn’t want to.”

“Gerard,” Frank whispered.

Gerard winced. He still wouldn’t look at Frank. “I know. We’re gonna leave someday, and you’ll… you’ll probably leave then, too, I know. You’ve told me a hundred times. It’s crazy. I get that. But until then, if you wanted…” 

His eyes met Frank’s, and Frank couldn’t ignore the flash of desperation hiding within them.

“You could stay,” he whispered.

“Gerard,” Frank said softly.

“I know,” Gerard said, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s… It was stupid, don’t say anything.” 

“You told me you didn’t need three,” Frank said. 

Gerard opened his eyes. “What?”

“The day I met you,” Frank said, leaning in closer and taking one of Gerard’s hands in his. “You said you had two people onboard. You didn’t need three. Remember?”

“But -”

“I think you’re a crazy bastard,” Frank interrupted. “And you’re gonna get yourself killed one day if you and Mikey go off on your own.” He squeezed Gerard’s hand. “But all you have to do is fucking ask, and you won’t be on your own.”

A smile slowly spread over Gerard’s face.

“I can’t have you risking your life with nobody watching you, now can I?” Frank asked, grinning. “Who’s gonna point a gun at you when you get in trouble?”

“And who’s gonna call me crazy so long I think he actually means it?” Gerard laughed.

“Oh, I do mean it. A hundred percent. You’re a crazy son of a bitch.” Frank smiled. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

He leaned forward and cupped Gerard’s face in his hands, kissing him for a long, lingering moment. When they parted, he rested his forehead against Gerard’s.

“I’ll stay,” he breathed. “‘Til the very end.”

“And beyond that?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded. He kissed Gerard again; the barest, softest press of their lips together.

“‘Til the end, and whatever comes after it,” he whispered. “I’ll stay.”


End file.
